9—Cold Mountain Cold Rivers Complaint
Pre-monitoring of the Horse Butte bald eagle nesting territory (foraging and nesting
areas) will occur 2 weeks before scheduled installation of the capture facility. Pre-
monitoring will include a minimum of 4 days a week for a two week period and
will focus observations along the Madison Arm of Hebegen [sic] Lake . . . . This
will allow monitoring to occur before the beginning of the general nesting period
(February 1).
The USFS recommends that the bison capture facility be installed before bald eagle
nesting activities are initiated. If installation of the facility is delayed until after
February 15, the USFS would consider foregoing pre-monitoring in exchange
for 8 days
of monitoring during operation of the capture
facility
. . . . Installation of the capture facility before February 1 is preferred.
See EA, Appendix V to Appendix B pp. 34-5. Undeniably then, by the terms of the BA, the bison
capture facility should be installed prior to February 1, and pre-monitoring must be done if the
facility is installed prior to February 1.
In October 2000, the Gallatin National Forest wildlife biologist, JT Stangl, issued
the Ecology and Management of Bald Eagles on Hebgen and Earthquake Lakes, Gallatin County,
Montana (hereinafter Eagle Management Plan). See Eagle Management Plan. That document was
specifically prepared to meet the requirements of the USFWS’s BO for the Horse Butte Bison
Capture Facility. See Id. p. VII-1.The Eagle Management Plan acknowledges that the USFS must
comply with the terms and conditions of the December 18, 1998 BO in order to exempt the bison
capture facility and associated hazing from the prohibitions of § 9 of the ESA. In a table under the
heading USFWS Required Measures (18 December 1998), the Eagle Management Plan openly
states that “[b]ison hazing requirements as described in the BO (1998) shall be implemented and
enforced.” See Eagle Management Plan at VI-6. In discussing monitoring for the Horse Butte
Nest, the document further states that monitoring was completed from February 2 to June 27,
1999. However it also plainly states that:
Effects of the capture facility on foraging and nesting activities of the Horse
Butte nest have not been assessed yet. Conclusions can generally not be
formed with only one years data. As data is continually acquired, it will be
assessed.
